In the corner of the room, a woman walks on a treadmill. Towards the center, another man works on a resistance machine. As the sound of whirring machines fills the air, Fred Hoffman puts on a pouch that holds a heart monitor. He says the device checks his heart while he is using the exercise machines. Hoffman is a patient in Lodi Memorial Hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation program.This program was recently relocated in the hospital and combined with a new pulmonary rehabilitation program. Carol Farron, spokeswoman for the hospital said the new location is more convenient and inspirational for patients and can accommodate both programs and more equipment. There are currently 14 heart and lung patients in each program that provides exercise routines and health education to get them back on track.
“Through education, exercise, diet and the support of professionals, both patient types can reach their highest levels of functioning and not feel limited or frightened of heart disease or lung disease,” said Farron.

Hoffman has been in the cardiac rehabilitation program for 11 weeks. For three mornings a week, he spends an hour at the hospital, a portion of it on the exercise machines and a portion learning about healthy eating. After suffering from full-blown diabetes and then having quadruple bypass heart surgery in April, he was referred to the program by his cardiologist.The 61-year-old has learned how to pinpoint the problem areas in his diet and how to correct them. Now has a better outlook on life and has more energy than before, he said. He now spends a lot of his time reading food labels in the grocery store as well as cycling.
“This is the best thing I have ever done for my heart,” he said. “It has changed my life around.”

Once a smoker, Suzanne Bovea suffers from emphysema. The 64-year-old first heard about a possible pulmonary rehabilitation class while attending the Better Breathers Support Group at the hospital. After taking a similar course in Stockton 10 years ago, she decided to use this class as a refresher. She was impressed after attending Lodi’s program.
“They had a lot more educational stuff to learn. They taught us things I didn’t know before,” she said.

After Lodi’s program was discontinued 20 years ago, there appeared to be a need to bring it back to Lodi residents, said Jana Van Os, supervisor of cardiopulmonary services. To participate in this type of program, patients had to travel to Sacramento or Stockton.